Today’s article is another installment in Brother P.’s column, “Lessons From the Nursing Home.”

In the nursing home, I spend my days walking with people, and often we talk during those walks. Here’s a phrase that I hear from time to time: “I do not want to go to the doctor’s office because they might find something.” Have you ever heard someone say that? Have you ever said that? It really cracks me up when they say this because I understand the sentiment!

Obviously, the doctor is not going to create a problem. He or she is just there to detect and treat any problems that might already exist. In our dread, anxiety, fear, silliness, stupidity, etc. we postpone going to the person who can help us most. And we all know the clichés regarding prevention and early detection. (But I still don’t want to go to the doctor!)

Jesus said that it’s the sick who need the physician. I wonder if He knew that we’d often rather allow a sickness to ferment or marinate — whatever it is that sin, oh, I mean that sickness does — rather than go to the One who can help us detect the sickness, develop a treatment plan, and heal the soul.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.